Saturday morning we stopped at Chick-fil-A for breakfast (we each got a sandwich for free via their app) and then headed to the doctor so I could get my annual flu shot. With the new insurance I had to be careful not to discuss any health concerns with her otherwise I’d have to pay for an office visit whereas the shot is completely free. It was the quickest (5 minutes) doctor visit ever!
Afterward we had some time to kill so we headed over to Willowbrook Wildlife Center to look at the animals. I swear every time we go there they have a new pair of rats. What I’d love to know is what happens to the previous ones. Are they adopted out? Do they die? I’m half tempted to call them and ask. In any case, this girl (well, she wasn’t super young but not old either so I’d say somewhere between 28 and 38) was telling me about her pet rats. I mentioned I had some too but instead of engaging in actual dialog she just kept talking at me so I quickly made an exit. It’s astounding how self-involved people can be. Here I thought I was about to meet someone cool and like-minded but just like pretty much everyone else they were more concerned with talking than having an actual conversation. That was a bummer. What wasn’t was that we saw both flying squirrels which is unusual since they are nocturnal and hide in their nesting box during the day. I could have stood there for an hour just watching them jump around and eat but we had an event to check out.
The College of DuPage is across the street from the nature center and Joe had learned they were hosting a food truck festival. They even had discount vouchers ($15 for $10) but I waited too long to go online and try to purchase one so they were sold out. Despite that snafu, I was impressed with the number of trucks there.
What I wasn’t impressed with was the lack of signage directing people to the festival. It was back in a hidden area of the campus and the only thing that even remotely caught one’s eye was an arch of balloons over the pathway leading to the event. There weren’t any signs about the festival until you were well on the path towards it. WTF? Why wouldn’t they put that in the parking lot or one of the main streets that go past the campus? Did they not want too large of a crowd? It just boggles my mind.
Regardless, we found it, and our first stop was Happy Lobster where we each got a junior happy lobster roll ($20 total). It was pretty decent, although I think the roll itself was what saved it from being flavorless. The lobster roll we enjoyed in Boston in 2012 still reigns supreme. After that we shared a beef empanada ($2.50) from Grumpy Gaucho’s food truck which was just meh. By that point we wanted something sweet but much to my disappointment the Beavers Coffee & Donuts truck wasn’t open yet even though it was already 12:30 and the festival started at noon. You’d think they’d be a little more punctual for an event particularly if they want to sell coffee. Luckily our patience paid off and I was the first one in line when they did open. I got a small box of 9 mini donuts ($4) and asked them to put their free sugar toppings on them so that we had three powdered, three cinnamon, and three chocolate. They have all sorts of crazy toppings you can purchase for $1 each but I must say the free ones were plenty good on their own and the donuts just melted in your mouth since they were still warm. Definitely the highlight of the event.
Sunday after a large breakfast we headed to the CS Barks Festival in Carol Stream where we watched the frisbee and agility dogs. Lots of people brought their own dogs so that was fun. I didn’t bring my camera because I wasn’t in the mood to try and get photos and I’m glad I didn’t since the frisbee dogs weren’t so hot this year.
Sunday evening we enjoyed a second viewing of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. That movie is hilarious! We rented it from Redbox on Tuesday evening when it was released but wanted to see it again. This time we got it from the library and were able to access all the bonus content too including deleted and bonus scenes, a gag reel, and some of The Lonely Island’s music videos. I’m pretty sure I’ll be buying a copy of the movie at some point because it’s just that funny. I love Andy Samberg! I wish he’d do more movies.